The New Newgate Calendar

On the last day of May in 1729, the French outlaw Philippe Nivet was put to death in Paris. Although some at the time considered that the legendary bandit... read more »

In 1888 the comedian Walter Groves appeared, not on stage this time, but in the dock at Worship Street Police court. He had been summoned by his former... read more »

Vienna’s last public execution was the raucous May 30, 1868 hanging of Georg Ratkay. The 23-year-old Hungarian proletarian had migrated to the bustling... read more »

An early gas stove James Connell was a fine upstanding member of his local community. He lived with his wife in New Cross Road, Deptford and was a member... read more »

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 29, 1895. The hot swap from “Chaplain Winget” to “Chaplin Wingate” is all [sic]. Columbus,... read more »

I have a confession. I am a serial procrastinator. I am also an inveterate researcher, who sometimes gets to busy researching a subject, I run out of time... read more »

The early Metropolitan Police (note the stove pipe hats which weren’t replaced with the more familiar helmets until 1863) Thomas Jackson was a ‘powerful... read more »

The unmourned fate of Arnaud Foucaud, a peasant swept into the maelstrom of the Hundred Years’ War as a sword-arm for hire in English service, was... read more »

It may be a little out of fashion nowadays but you may be familiar with the expression ‘hogwash’, as in: ‘that is a load of hogwash’,... read more »

The futile last appeal of Australia-born artillerist Frank Willis — before his execution at La Havre a century ago today for killing a British policeman... read more »

The NSPCC was founded in 1884 with a mission (that it continues today) to protect children from cruelty. The cruelty that is most difficult to detect is... read more »

Wikileaks published this incident report from the monumental trove of war secrets leaked at incredible personal cost by whistleblower Chelsea Manning.... read more »

The Victorian period is synonymous with the harsh treatment of paupers in the workhouse. We draw much of our popular imagery of the workhouse from Dickens (and... read more »

The Carnew Massacre blackened this date in 1798, in the Irish village of the same name. It was the morrow of the outbreak of Ireland’s 1798 rebellion... read more »

Mrs Maria Grace was taking tea at home in Rotherhithe in May 1845 when there was a caller at the door. She opened the door and admitted a fashionably dressed... read more »

On this date in 2014, the BBC reported, businessman Mahafarid Amir-Khosravi was hanged at Tehran’s Evin Prison for defrauding banks of $2.6 billion... read more »

From the Pueblo Chieftain (May 25, 1918): Salt Lake City, May 24. — Howard H. Deweese, who was shot here today for the murder of his wife, Fannie... read more »

John Wicks and his wife had both been drinking on the 14 April. John was well known in the community as a drinker and for being violent when he was under... read more »

German serial killer Adolf Seefeldt was beheaded on this date in 1936 by the Third Reich. The tramp timepiece-fixer with twenty-plus years of child molestation... read more »

Jane Mortimer’s gravestone at Avebury I haven’t written a crime-related post this week, but instead thought I’d write a more general... read more »

Robert Stevens been out of work for some time when he entered a baker’s shop in Mile End in May 1859. Stevens had previously earned a living as a... read more »

English Franciscan John Forest was burned at Smithfield on this date in 1538 … the undercard to the simultaneous “execution” of a downthrown... read more »

Minnie O’Shea was a drunk, an alcoholic with a problem, and when she appeared at Worship Street Police court in May 1899 it was very clear that she... read more »

This broadside comes from the National Library of Scotland’s vast collection of print ephemera, “The Word on the Street”. Account of... read more »

Given that surviving archival records of the Metropolitan Police courts of the Victorian period are very few are far between for the past few years I’ve... read more »

Catholic priest Jan Bula was hanged on this date in 1952 at Jihlava A Rokytnice pastor, Bula (English Wikipedia entry | the more detailed Czech and German)... read more »

To some very real extent Victorian London was powered by the horse. Horses pulled cabs and carts, coaches, trams and omnibuses, and where today an individual... read more »

For today’s post we refer you to the fine and regrettably retired blog Made In Thailand, which describes in detail the May 19, 1893 beheading of... read more »

An impression of the 1892 FA Challenge Cup final at Kennington Oval between West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa Yesterday Manchester City completed... read more »

Ottoman Grand Vizier Topal Recep Pasha was put to death by Sultan Murad IV on this date in 1632. Come to the throne as a mere boy of 11, Murad’s... read more »

Most of the domestic violence cases that I have written about over the last three years of this blog have involved men beating their wives. The majority... read more »

Venezuelan caudillo Matias Salazar was shot on this date in 1872. A commander who had adhered himself to Antonio Guzman Blanco‘s 1870 “April... read more »

Today I shall mostly be at a one-day conference at the Open University near Milton Keynes. For those that don’t know the OU is home to the Centre... read more »

“I have murdered in vain,” said India’s most prolific serial killer as he went to the gallows in Jaipur on this date in 1979. “Nobody... read more »

Posted by Sara M. Butler, 16 May 2019. A more familiar gang of medieval outlaws: Robin Hood, Will Scarlet, and Little John. The Folvilles of Ashby-Folville... read more »

The majority of bigamy cases I’ve come across in the English press over the 19th and early 20th centuries involve men being charged with the offence,... read more »

We might like to believe that children grow up faster these days or lose their innocence at an earlier age than they did in the past, but how true is this?... read more »

Research brief 32 Australians preparing to vote on Saturday 18 May have been reminded by Judith Brett in her recent book[1] how unusual the compulsory... read more »

Panamanian indigenous leader Victoriano Lorenzo was shot on this date in 1903. He was a cholo (mixed-race; Lorenzo had both African and Amerindian ancestry)... read more »

Gloucester Castle keep: the old county gaol. Based on an 1819 work, from W. Andrew, ‘Old English Towns’, published 1909. Via Wikimedia Commons.... read more »

John Rogers kept a beer tent at Wandsworth fair. We’ve probably all encountered a beer tent at music festival or county show but this was likely... read more »

On this date in 1855, Giovanni Pianori submitted to the guillotine for an unsuccessful assassination attempt — pictured above — on the French... read more »

By Professor Heather Shore, Leeds Beckett University The BBC series Peaky Blinders will shortly be returning to our screens, taking the story of the Birmingham... read more »

by Dick Hunter This article examines petitions arising from convictions at Yorkshire courts in the mind-nineteenth century, with a case study of events... read more »

By Professor Helen Johnston and Dr Jo Turner The Victorian period has often been depicted as one where people with disabilities were viewed as a burden... read more »

In 1868 photography was still in its relative infancy but it was coming more fashionable to have your photo ‘taken’. Edward Frewing described... read more »

Anti-Nazi Danish Resistance turncoat Johannes Rasmussen was shot at Viborg on this date in 1948. Arrested by the Gestapo in December 1943, Rasmussen (Danish... read more »

The state of mind of George Augustus Mahon can only be guessed at when he turned up at Bow Street Police court to seek the help of the magistrate. His... read more »

Claude Henry Branton was noosed in Eugene, Oregon on this date in 1899, with the last words, “I haven’t much to say. I hope for God’s... read more »

In the 1890s a new word entered the lexicon: ‘hooligan’. It was used to refer to gangs of youth, mostly men, who engaged in petty crime and... read more »